Tenderfoot

A couple weekends ago I woke Betsy up early on Saturday and we took off to Marin. We did hike #2 on the list of the top 7 hikes in Marin County. I don't know why they don't round up to 10 top hikes in Marin County but that's how Marin County rolls I guess. It was a beautiful morning; the rain had stopped and the sun came out. As you can see, I was super excited to be in nature.
On the other hand, Betsy still wanted to be in bed but was willing to show off her belly to nature.
Here she is more excited. Maybe it was the view?
The trail was a little slick and I noticed that Betsy was walking with her hands pointed out for balance.
The hike was very pretty. Lots of pretty wildflowers and awesome views.

When we came to a bridge crossing, Betsy was a bit concerned that she would slip on the bridge, fall in the creek, be swept downstream, then eaten by a bear. I just told her to stick out her hands for balance like she was doing before.
She continued this technique in the tough sections for the remainder of the hike. I tried to convince her that she was going to be fine but she gave some excuse like her shoes didn't have tread or something.
Maybe I should get her a hiking balance bar like the one the Man On Wire guy uses.
Betsy was a good sport and made it to the top without incident.
The hike was in a botanical hot spot due to all the serpentine everywhere. Here is some Lasthenia californicia or some other species.
Also there was Layia sp. growing next to it. We often see these plants in vernal pools. These plant species are easy to key but I didn't want to collect anything since because of the sensitive area. There were other plant nerds around so I didn't want to get reprimanded from the plant police.
When we reached the top of Ring Mountain we were surprised to find tons of wildflowers. It was awesome. Apparently they leveled the top of the mountain to put anti-aircraft guns here during the war. The mountain has rebounded.
I was so happy. But as you can see the weather was turning bad so we took off.
First we had to take another belly shot. Our kid is totally going to love nature.
Afterwords we drove to Larkspur for brunch. We found a cute cafe off the main drag and it was pretty tasty. I got the eggs Benedict. Yelpers were right, it was delicious.
Betsy got the two egg special. She really loves bacon.
Downtown Larkspur is rustic. It would be fun to live here some day.
I am so glad that Betsy didn't fall down in the mud. Maybe her technique will catch on. All I know is I want to go hiking in Marin County again soon. Come on weekend!